


California

by robertstanion



Series: Hatchetober [1]
Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Angst, Black Friday, F/M, Hatchetober Day 1, ethan's backstory is vAguely touched on, i'm taking australian ethan to the grave with me sorry peips, tws: mentions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:29:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26756548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robertstanion/pseuds/robertstanion
Summary: It started with indefinite concern about a girl known as trailer trash, and if he hadn't have told her the truth, he wouldn't be dead.
Relationships: Ethan Green/Lex Foster, Henry Hidgens/Chad (mentioned)
Series: Hatchetober [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949110
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	California

**Author's Note:**

> this is Hatchetober day 1 which is Bad Ending. I will be (hopefully) doing these every day. I am excited

To some, Ethan Green was a masterpiece. He was attractive, he was mysterious, and he was a leather jacket wearing punk, a type many of the girls swooned over at Hatchetfield High all year round. New boys joined classes, and they may have been considered attractive, but none could ever beat Ethan. The girls would drape themselves across Ethan if they got a chance to, and they’d only get turned away with a sharp, yet sarcastic, smile as Ethan walked the opposite direction. The boys didn’t bother attempting to flirt, they didn’t attempt to see if they had a shot with him either. The majority of the school saw him as a toy, as a little play thing that they could use to their advantage to get what they wanted. They weren’t aware of how he’d wound up in Hatchetfield in the first place.

Except for one.

Except for Lex Foster.

Alexandra Foster had to be the opposite of Ethan’s type. She was secluded, and mysterious in every other type of way. She hid her feelings. She was never taken seriously, and she learnt not to speak openly about her issues, if she had any. The entire island knew about her alcoholic, melancholic mother who was a borderline druggie as well who couldn’t take care of Lex, let alone Hannah. The entire island seemed to know everything about the Foster family. They knew how Hannah was purposely dropped on her head when she was a baby, they noticed the bruises Lex presented to the public that were covered by her Toy-Zone uniform, or by long sleeves. They knew how Lex had a sarcastic, bitchy attitude, and how she was a stubborn, “unattractive” young lady.

So how had Ethan and Lex wound up dating then?

It had been a normal day at school, and Lex had been being pestered by some asshole about a new bruise she sported, until Ethan slid across the desk, turning his body to face her. “Hey, Foster. Houston wanted to speak to ya about somethin’, about your new project or some shit? I gotta head that way anyway, my car’s in the parkin’ lot. Let me walk you?”

Lex had immediately become flustered as she threw everything in her worn-out bag and stood, flinging it on to her back. She walked out, alongside Ethan, almost embarrassed to be seen beside him, and she moved her hair in front of her eyes. She went to turn the corner to Tom’s classroom before Ethan stopped her.

“Yeah, he don’t need to see ya. I was just tired of that fuckin’ asshole being…an asshole.”

“You ain’t much better,” she huffed as she tried to walk away from him, but he blocked her path, and she felt a spike of fear raise in her throat. “Look. I gotta get home-“

“Because of Hannah? Yeah, I know.” Ethan said and looked at her. “You ain’t got many friends, do ya?”

“I don’t need them.”

Ethan sighed then and pinched the bridge of his nose, stuffing his gloved hand in his pocket. “Yeah, and I’m pretty much aware of that but-“

“So please, step out of my way. I need to get home.”

“I wanted to take you out tonight-“ Ethan blurted just as Lex stepped past him.

She stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned to look at him, trying to see if he was being honest, or if he was lying, using her like every other guy in the school had attempted to. She was used to being asked out as a joke, and she was used to being slut shamed all of the time. It was her normal. It couldn’t be anything else, for when you grew up in moral poverty, you immediately had a bad reputation taped to your back and you were avoided at all costs and seen to be trash. She thought Ethan would think of her the same, yet he was smiling nervously, and his eyes were soft. It didn’t make sense how he, Ethan Green of all people, was asking to take her out.

“I’m sorry, did I hear that right?” She asked, placing her own hands in her pockets, and Ethan sighed softly.

“Look, I live with my Uncle? Henry Hidgens right? With my cousin, Oliver. My house is near your trailer park, and it’s pretty much directly beside your trailer. It may as well be, ‘cause I hear that screamin’ and sobbin’ every night and-and I hate it, I hate it _so much._ It’s even worse when I hear a smaller voice, and I take it it’s your sister…it hurts to hear.”

Lex shrunk back in on herself as Ethan described what she went through every day. She moved her hair more in her eyes and cleared her throat, wary of him and what he was telling her. “Why do you care?”

“I’m gonna be _the_ most likely person to say this, and you ain’t gonna believe me because of what you heard ‘bout me, but, I think you’re amazin’…” he admitted, a light blush washing over his cheesk as he rubbed the back of his neck. “You come to school every day, you work at Toy-Zone a-and…and I just think you’re real pretty?” He asked himself, before looking back at her. “And I’ve been seein’ all those creeps who tried to fuckin’, ya know, pester ya into goin’ on a date with you, but I thought that tonight…tonight I can go take you and Hannah out somewhere? My treat.”

Lex’s heart, which had previously been pounding, stopped. There wasn’t an ounce of sarcasm in his voice, and he was being serene. He wasn’t doing it to mock her at all. He was being genuine, and kind, and concerned all simultaneously. And he called her beautiful. _That_ was definitely something she hadn’t expected then. She went silent for a small while, balancing the pros and cons over in her head, but overall, if it wasn’t for her, it was for Hannah. She looked up at him and nodded. “Where’re you thinkin’?” She asked, and he shrugged, both of his hands back in pockets.

“I don’t know, me and my cousin usually go to Pizza Pete’s? And I know there’s a lot for little kids there? I’m takin Hannah ain’t too old.”

Lex shook her head as a smile formed on her face. “She’s eight. We ain’t been to Pizza Pete’s before.” She shifted her feet on to her other foot and looked at him. “Banana’s always wanted to, though. I’ve been tryin’ to get the money to take her but-“

“Ah, bullshit. Come on. I’ll take ya. I got a car, and I know your address. Let’s make it a night to remember, huh?”

* * *

Ethan drove over to the Foster’s trailer, and Lex rushed inside and picked Hannah up. She sat in the back with her younger sister, introducing Hannah to Ethan and Ethan to Hannah. Ethan, though most likely intimidating to the smaller girl, tried to remain as friendly as possible as he drove and while they walked into the mall. They got seated, and Ethan let the girls choose whatever they wanted, and then Lex let Hannah off to play.

While she was gone, Ethan and Lex began to talk, and he slowly opened up. He hadn’t originally been in Hatchetfield, and lived in Australia until he was 3, where there was an incident with his parents, that led to them becoming homeless, and them living in a hotel. That same night, police officers walked in to see a tiny Ethan grinning at them, asking when his parents would be back. The day after, he was on a plane to America with his Uncle, and his Uncle’s boyfriend, Chad. He didn’t find out the truth until two years ago, and he wasn’t ready to speak about it just yet.

When their food came, Ethan watched as Lex fussed over Hannah, ensuring she was okay before she ate her food, wanting nothing but the best for her little sister, and he could tell that. He could tell that almost immediately, and he decided then and there that she was more than trailer trash, more than what everybody made her out to be. She was amazing, and she was kind, and she was brave, and Ethan couldn’t stop his heart from warming as he listened to Lex talking to Hannah on the other side of the table.

The meal ended, however, and Ethan took them home. He drove home, with Lex’s number on his phone and a wide smile on his face, much to his Uncle’s confusion. They went on a few more “meals,” and Lex mentioned that they seemed to be dates. The next few after that were officially certified as “dates,” and they became more comfortable around each other, and slowly, Ethan gained Hannah’s trust. He visited Lex when she worked the opening shifts in Toy-Zone, and he’d carry Hannah in on his hip if she was having a bad day, and use the little money he’d earned from working at the garage to get Hannah a new toy or something. It was an excuse to see Lex.

They decided that, when Mr Houston became unable to teach due to a “family emergency,” that they’d both drop out, so they did. The day after, they sketched out their plan for California. Ethan would further his passion for music and maybe become a part of a band, while Lex would be a famous actress, and be Hollywood’s rising star, and all the while, they’d help Hannah with schooling and let Hannah be herself.

They were going to have a family, or so it was implied. Ethan let it slip one night while they cuddled in Ethan’s bed, but neither of them mentioned the slip up again. From what he could tell, she was joking when she sent him links to baby names, and baby clothes, and everything that could possibly give him baby fever even harder than he already had. She also liked to send baby photos of Hannah. If Hannah wasn’t already adorable, and wasn’t Ethan’s main source of baby fever to begin with, then it was confirmed when she sent the first set of photos through.

Lex hadn’t been joking at all. When she was away from Ethan, after a bad round with her mom, she’d curl up in bed and think about their future. A possible family in California, with her name in lights, where she’d be able to afford the best education for Hannah, and get her all of the toys and clothes she desired instead of shitty hand-me-downs that were far too big for her tiny figure. She wanted to end the days in Ethan’s arms, while he played her the demo of a new song he’d written, and they’d talk about what their lives were to become.

She wanted to take Hannah and Ethan to red carpet premieres, she wanted to let Ethan and Hannah be her biggest supporters while she fulfilled her dream of being a star in movies, and maybe musicals too, but it depended on where she wound up. She wanted them to cheer her on while she worked on set, and she wanted to see them smiling.

So, on Black Friday, they decided Lex would take the doll and they’d sell it. Ethan got the money in his bank in the morning, and hopefully, when midday hit, they’d be off to California. It was a hope that soon faded, for the three, at midday, were in separate parts of the building. Lex was with Linda, tied up and with some sort of cult the blonde haired bitch had founded to “worship the eldritch god before them,” while her devout followers worshipped her for she’d gained the title of “Prophet.” Hannah was in the play place by Marshall’s, and she was curled up in the tunnel, tears falling down her face as she thought of Lexi, and Ethan, and California, because they were getting to California, because Ethan was okay.

But he wasn’t.

He was smiling, but there was an open wound on his head, and pain pulsed through his body. He was thinking of California, and how Lex and Hannah were destined to get there. He thought of his Uncle, and his cousin, and how much this would affect them. When Chad had died, it hadn’t been easy on the family, so for Ethan to go as well? It would ruin them for sure. There would be no California for him, unfortunately, and there would be no watching his baby grow up, there would be no watching Lex grow to fame and success. There was only pain, and darkness, and doubt. His old shop teacher was beside him, as was a nurse he didn’t recognise, but at least he wasn’t going alone.

He thought about the shared kisses him and Lex had, and he thought about the dates. He was thinking about their first I love you, and he was thinking of her bittersweet laugh. He was thinking of their first Pizza Pete’s trip, with Lex being overly concerned about Hannah getting hurt or getting lost when they were back in high school, as he uttered his last words. He was getting her to California no matter what it took. She deserved it more than he did, after all, and he let the darkness claim him.

California _should_ have been inevitable, and, in fact, it was the opposite. Ethan was dead, and neither of the girls knew. It had already been a hellish Black Friday, but without the tall, punk, mysterious figure beside their sides, Hatchetfield became Hell.


End file.
